


Of Beetles and Friendship

by oikawastar (A_cuisle)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Gen, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-14
Updated: 2016-05-14
Packaged: 2018-06-08 11:10:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6852292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_cuisle/pseuds/oikawastar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oikawa's attempt at embarrassing Iwaizumi with old home-videos takes a surprising turn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Beetles and Friendship

“Iwa-chan! I have the best surprise for you- eh! Sit back down!”

Oikawa’s hands squeeze Iwaizumi’s shoulders and push him back down on the couch. With a palm outstretched in a stopping gesture, he kneels back down by the television and shields his prize from Iwaizumi.

“Surprises from you are never a good thing, the least you could do is hurry the hell up, I have places to be.”

“Nice try, Iwa-chan, but if you’re going to try and get away, at least think of a valid excuse. Tch, like there’s anywhere else you have to be today. It’s the middle of summer-“

“And I don't want to waste it sitting on your couch so _hurry up_.”

With a pout (that has no effect on Iwaizumi whatsoever), Oikawa finally relents.

“Fine, fine. I present to you- Baby Iwa-chan!”

“Huh!?”

With a flourish, Oikawa presses a button on the beaten-down television that he had dragged down from the loft and the screen jerks to life. In all its grainy glory, the screen is zoomed in on a grumpy looking child with sticky-up hair and a plaster on his cheek that can only be a young Iwaizumi. A young Iwaizumi in a too-big lilac dress that practically swallows him up.

“Nee-san came home over the weekend to clear out the last of her things and _look_ at the treasure she found! Homemade videos, Iwa-chan! We’re lucky we even have a TV old enough to play these.”

Oikawa grins at Iwaizumi and practically buzzes where he sits on the floor in front of his friend. On the screen, the young Iwaizumi fends of a laughing older girl who Iwaizumi realises must be Oikawa’s sister. He drops his head to his hands and rubs his eyes, rationalising that if he rubbed hard enough he might not have to bear witness to this humiliation.

“Iwa-chan, you were so cute, what happened?! Look at you all blushing and-“

“I am _not_ blushing,” Iwaizumi points to the screen. “I am red in the face because I’ve been fighting you two off.”

“Don’t be shy! We can both see that-“

Oikawa’s teasing is interrupted by a crackling sound coming from the television and the screen’s image distorting into two overlaid scenes. As the young Iwaizumi’s protests crackle off into nothing, a laugh like bells sounds from the television.

“What…”

_“Tooru, put your shoes on and pose by the door, I want to record this special moment.”_

_“Kaa-chan, do I look cute?”_

_"Mm, now stand up straight. There we are!”_

The camera zooms out and a small Oikawa Tooru is stood posing next to his front door, a grin so wide that his missing baby teeth can be seen. In one hand, he’s tightly gripping his pre-school backpack, but in the other is an alien soft toy that he holds by its hand.

_“Are you excited for your first day, Tooru? Looking forward to making some new friends?”_

_“Uh huh! ‘M gonna make loads of friends and we can all play ‘looking for aliens’ together and we can have sleepovers like they do on TV!”_

Oikawa’s mother laughs lightly and ruffles the young Oikawa’s hair.

_“Let’s not be late then.”_

_“I don’t wanna be late ‘cause all the good friends’ll be taken!”_

Little Oikawa pulls at his mother’s hand as he tries to drag them both out the door.

_“Let’s go! Let’s go, let’s go, let’s-“_

A familiar crackle and the scene changes once more, only this time the camera is held shakily, peering from behind a doorframe.

_“Tooru, Tooru, don’t cry.”_

Oikawa’s mother is knelt down, back to the camera, mostly shielding the young Oikawa from view except that her hand can be seen running through her son’s hair.

_“It was only the first day. I’m sure most of the other boys and girls didn’t find a best friend on the first day.”_

The young Oikawa’s reply was mumbled and sullen. _“But they all had someone to play with.”_

_“They were probably just too shy to ask you to play-“_

_“But I asked them ‘nd none of them would play with me. Not even when I told them about my aliens game. They laughed and so I said I didn’ mind what we play but they ran away…”_

Hiccupped crying sounds from the small figure blocked by his mother’s body, his soft whines leading his mother to draw him into her arms.

_“Oh, sweetheart.”_

As Oikawa’s mother pulls away to wipe at the boy’s eyes, his ruddy face finally comes into view. Soft brown eyes, watery with tears and little shoulders jerking with each sobbed exhale.

_“Tooru, where’s your toy, the one you took with you this morning?”_

_“I hid him in my bag ‘cause they said he was stupid.”_

Oikawa’s mother reached for his backpack and rummaged through it, carefully pulling out Oikawa’s alien toy.

_“You love this toy, it's precious to you, isn’t it?”_

Young Oikawa’s eyes welled up with tears again before he reached out for his toy, hugging it to his chest and sniffling into it, nodding.

_“Now I bet you weren’t the only one to bring a special toy with you, hm? And I’m sure you didn’t laugh at those children. Why not?”_

_“… ‘Cause they love them like I love mine.”_

_“And?”_

_“And… it’s mean.”_

_“Exactly. You’re not a mean boy, Tooru, so why would you want mean friends? If you keep being yourself and keep being kind, you’ll find a kind friend just like you. Now isn’t that something worth waiting for?”_

Oikawa’s head lifted and he gifted his mother with a wobbly smile before his eyes suddenly widened as they locked eyes with the camera. His mother spins around.

_“Aiko-chan! Put that-“_

A young girls’ shriek and the muffled sound of her footsteps running away signal the end of the tape as it cuts off, the screen now filled with static. Oikawa and Iwaizumi are both left staring blankly at the television, an imprint of a blotchy-looking Oikawa staining the back of Iwaizumi’s eyelids. The silence stretches until Oikawa seems to come to life abruptly, springing up from his position on the floor and running a hand through his hair. He’s wearing the self-deprecating smile that Iwaizumi hates so much and looks about ready to launch into a joke at his younger self’s expense. Except Iwaizumi can't help but bring up the image of that alien toy in his mind’s eye, a toy that grows more familiar the more he focuses on it. With a jolt, Iwaizumi pictures the bottom shelf in his room, filled to the brim with knickknacks that he can’t quite bring himself to throw away. It is on this same shelf that the alien toy from the video now rests, surrounded by other snippets of their childhood.

“Oikawa, that toy-“

_“You look like you’re about to burst, Tooru! What is it that you couldn’t wait to tell me?”_

Both boys’ eyes simultaneously snap back to the television screen, now stuttering back to life with an image of that same small Oikawa. Except that this time his face is flush with barely-contained joy, and his little fists are clenching and unclenching at his sides in excitement.

_“They were all talking about this weird boy and his beetle and how he almost cried when someone stepped on it and so I went exploring and found this grumpy boy with an empty glass jar and-“_

_“Slow down, slow down.”_

The little Oikawa takes a deep breath and grins up at his camera-wielding mother.

_“And so I asked him if he was the weird beetle boy and he got all sad ‘cept he looked mad and I guess that’s why no one else came to see if he was okay because he looks kinds scary if you don’t look close enough.”_

_“And you were looking close enough?”_

_“Mhm! I asked what happened to his beetle and he said that it was his favourite beetle that he caught from the woods behind his house but that he always lets them go because beetles aren't happy in glass jars for very long. When he showed it to the boy in my class he tried to squish it but the beetle ran away and so he got really sad ‘cause he felt bad for his favourite beetle.”_

_“I see…”_

The young Oikawa huffed in annoyance at his mother’s lack of reaction.

_“So I said we should go looking for the beetle together and then put it back in the forest so he wouldn’t have to feel sad anymore but he still didn’ look happy so I said he could hold onto Alien-chan until we found it.”_

_“You gave him your toy? Did he give it back?”_

_“He tried to but we never found his beetle so I said he could keep him as a new friend ‘cause I heard friends make you really happy! And then he got this really weird look on his face and asked if I wanted to be his friend. Kaa-chan, he asked me to be his friend!”_

Understanding was dawning on Oikawa’s mother’s face, her hand drifting up towards her mouth to cover her smile.

_“And you were right about waiting for the right friend and I’m so happy I waited because now I have Iwa-chan who loves beetles and is kind and didn’ laugh when I wanted to play my alien game and I’m so happy and I have the best friend ever!”_

The boy’s eyes shine brightly up at his mother and he bites his lip to try and control his smile, his whole body vibrating with happiness.

_“I can’t wait ‘til tomorrow ‘cause we’re gonna play some more and then the day after that, too! And I didn’ have to stop being me ‘cause he thinks I’m weird but likes me anyway and I just really love Iwa-chan!”_

Finally, the video ends. The tape ejects itself from the player and the last few words of the young Oikawa’s joyful speech ring through the room. Oikawa virtually collapses onto the couch next to Iwaizumi, his mouth agape. Iwaizumi is faring no better, still staring at the screen with shining eyes. He wants to speak but his throat is all but sealed shut and all he can do is sit and picture the pure joy on Oikawa’s young face. His anxieties about them going to separate universities suddenly seem so ridiculous and he can't imagine why he ever felt insecure in his friendship with Oikawa, with the boy who was so desperately happy, once upon a time, to be his friend. With a quick glance to the side, the rouge steadily spreading across Oikawa’s cheeks and up to his ears speak louder than any words he might have.

Iwaizumi smiles and lets his pinkie-finger brush against Oikawa’s where it rests between them, closing his eyes when he feels Oikawa’s brush against his in return.


End file.
